


Dynamite With A Laser Beam

by arcanesupernova



Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [3]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst adjacent, F/M, I will never write Ted as not pining for Charlotte, Laser Tag, whether he wants to admit it or not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23154148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova
Summary: The office goes to play laser tag but Charlotte brings Sam.
Relationships: Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	Dynamite With A Laser Beam

**Author's Note:**

> Starkid Writes said Laser Tag, so here we are. ♥

It was supposed to be easy. A couple of people from the office and a game of laser tag. Ted wasn’t expecting, however, for Charlotte to bring along her husband. It seemed she was surprised he came along as well but as Sam strapped into the target and inspected his gun, the bloodlust was obvious.

The teams were split evenly. Paul, Sam, and Melissa versus Bill, Ted, and Charlotte. Once the siren blared, the three of them split up, Ted going straight into the maze as Charlotte and Bill went left and right respectively. When the outing was planned, Ted and Melissa talked a big game of who would take out who first so Ted went on the hunt for the secretary, taking care to avoid her teammates.

“Melissa,” he called out softly, cursing himself for giving up on learning how to throw his voice when he was a kid. He garnered no response but spotted a ramp ahead of him. A little camping never hurt anyone, did it? The top offered him little more advantage, but he did spot Charlotte holding her hands up in surrender to a shadowed figure before ducking out of the way. The attacker followed after her menacingly and Ted fought with himself for a moment before groaning as he headed back for the ramp. He made it to the bottom to find Charlotte, her chest blinking and shoulders drooped. 

“Take that, bitch,” Sam laughed viciously before disappearing into the maze, unaware of Ted’s presence.

“Dammit, Charlotte,” he swore softly. She jumped at the sound, quickly wiping her face before scurrying off to the waiting area. The sight infuriated Ted and he followed Sam into the maze, telling himself he was just avenging his fallen teammate. No, it had nothing to do with her watery sniffle or Sam’s cruel words. This was just a game, no more, no less.

Ted spotted Melissa talking softly with someone, her eyes darting around to make sure the area was still secure. Her face morphed into disgust as she looked back up at the person talking to her before storming off away from Ted. He pushed his back against the foam pillar, peeking around the corner. Unsurprisingly, he found Sam there, watching Melissa as she stormed away from him with a devious grin covering his face.

Ted doubled down on his effort to be the one to take Sam out. He’d seen Sam at his favorite bar, getting handsy with a girl that looked nothing like Charlotte but it was bold of him to go for one of his wife’s coworkers. Sam disappeared down a long tunnel and Ted kept a safe distance, grateful for the electronic music masking his steps.

“Hey there, Ted,” Paul smirked, holding his gun out at him.

“Dammit, Paul,” Ted snapped, “Can you just… not shoot me yet? I really want to be the one to take Sam out.”

Paul considered a moment, before lowering his weapon. “Just this once, Ted, and only because Sam’s been an ultra-competitive dick this entire time.”

“I noticed,” Ted remarked, relaxing as he turned back to look for the cop. “He took Charlotte out and just straight up called her a bitch. What kind of asshole does that?”

“If you want, I can distract him. Let you get your shot in.” The offer was thoughtful but Ted declined. If he was going to take Sam out, he wanted it to be because Ted was better than him, not by taking a cheap shot. Paul shrugged in response, assuring Ted he’d at least inform Melissa of his plan.

Ted crept through the opening Sam had disappeared through, dismayed to find it to be a dead end. He turned to go back only to be startled by Bill. Would he get no goddamn peace?

“S-Sorry Ted, I thought you were Paul.”

“Fucking how?” Ted snapped, pushing past his teammate.

“It’s dark in here, in case you haven’t noticed,” Bill shot back before his shoulders dropped and he looked around in disappointment, “Next time we do this we should bring along Alice. Six people just aren’t enough for this to be fun.”

Ted didn’t respond and Bill trailed behind him, much to his frustration. He finally spotted Sam, peeking through an opening in the foam. Ted’s chest lit up red.

“God fucking dammit!” Ted snarled, kicking himself for not using Bill as a body shield. Bill took off at the sight of the lights as Ted made his way to the Loser’s bench to wait for the match from hell to be over.

“O-Oh, you’re out Ted?” Charlotte asked as he plopped down next to her. 

“Yeah, courtesy of your fucking husband,” he snapped, rubbing his temples. “Thanks again for bringing him. An actual cop versus a bunch of office workers is such a fair playing field.”

“I-I didn’t think he’d actually come,” she told him, looking down at her hands. “He asked where I was going and when I mentioned laser tag, he kind of just invited himself.”

He didn’t want to admit it made him feel just a little better to hear it, but he was glad she hadn’t insisted he come. She had a bad habit of doing that whenever an office group outing was planned as if Ted was going to lay her down right in front of her friends and show them what he was working with without Sam's watchful eye to dissuade him. 

“Still, not fair,” he grumbled, his tone softer. “You think you’re gonna be busy tonight?”

“O-Oh, I don’t know Ted,” Charlotte said, twisting her hands in her lap, “I don’t know what Sam wants to do after this.”

“Well, he was trying to get it to be Melissa, judging by what I saw earlier.”

“Melissa?” Charlotte asked, finally looking up from her hands.

“She didn’t look interested, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“W-Well, that’s nice.” Her shoulders drooped and Ted took her hand. “T-Ted!” she exclaimed, withdrawing her hand. She turned away but not before Ted caught the grin forming on her face.

“You just let me know, Char,” he told her, dropping his voice several octaves as he leaned toward her. She turned back to him slowly, her eyes trailing slowly up from the floor, to his lap before snapping up to his. A siren blared, interrupting the two. They slid apart as Bill walked out of the maze in shame.

“I-I’m sorry, Ted,” Bill told him mournfully, “I tried but Melissa found me.”

“So you mean it was a perfect game?” Ted groaned as Paul, Melissa and Sam finally emerged.

“So much for you taking me out,” Melissa gloated, sitting down next to Ted to take off her vest. “I never even saw you.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens. I’ll get your ass next time,” Ted threatened with a grin.

“I gotta head out Charlotte,” Sam cut in, looking annoyed. “Get one of them to take you home, alright?”

“S-Sam, wait,” Charlotte whimpered after her husband to no avail. He dropped his vest and gun off at the counter and disappeared through the front door. Ted rubbed her back with a sigh, trying to be happy that Sam ditching her meant he would take her home tonight.

“It’s alright, Char,” he murmured, “I’ll take you home.”

She turned to look up at him, her eyes glistening and nodded. Ted stood up and they said their goodbyes. In his car, she lit up a cigarette and wormed her free hand into his. He raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t comment, tightening his grip as he sped out of the parking lot.

Ted might not be better than Sam at something stupid like laser tag, but he took solace in knowing he was better than Sam when it came to Charlotte.


End file.
